Black Beans and Rice is very affordable to cook and good for you.
2 cups dried black beans
Enough water to cover the beans
1/2 medium size onion (optional)
2 cloves garlic (optional)
2 strips bacon
salt is optional
Place the black beans in a flat pan and look through them to see if there is any trash or stones.
Wash the beans in a strainer.
Beans contain complex sugars that do not digest well, thus cause gas issues. It has been told for many years that soaking the beans before cooking and pouring off the water after soaking helps to avoid these digestion issues.
First look through the beans for any trash. Then put the beans in a pan and cover them with water and bring them to a boil for about two minutes. Drain the water and put the beans in a container, pour enough water to cover the beans plus about two inches more. Put the beans in the refrigerator and soak the beans overnight or for 24 hours. Then, strain off the water. This will help to rid the beans of dirt and complex sugars and make it more digestable.
You can use this same method for other beans such as pinto, navy, great northern etc.
Place the 2 cups of washed and soaked black beans in a large pot or dutch oven.
Pour fresh water over the already soaked beans. For two cups of beans I use eight cups of water.
Drop in the garlic, the cloves I used were large so I cut them in slices. You do not need to chop the garlic.
Add a half a medium onion, my onion was large so I put this much in the pot. No need to chop the onion.
Place two strips of bacon in the pot, I cut mine in half to make 4 pieces.
Add a little salt or wait and let everyone salt their own at the table.
Bring it to a boil, stir it and turn down the heat to simmer. You need to keep an eye on the water level because you might need to add more water as it evaporates.
Put a lid on the pot and cook for about hour and a half to two hours. Put a toothpick or scewer under the lid so the steam does not drip out of the pot. After an hour, check the beans to see if they are getting tender or need more water. It is difficult to say how long to cook beans because it depends on how they were stored. It also depends on how your stove simmers. After a few times of cooking the beans you will know.
This is a serving size of Black beans and Rice at our house. Many times when we eat beans we eat the beans with rice and that is all we eat. Sometimes when I cook beans I cook cornbread and potatoes, it depends on what type of dried beans I am cooking.
Remember that when the Grocery funds are low, beans and rice are a good option to get you to payday.
